


The Darkest Night

by FiliAtYourService



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, Drugs, F/M, Gangs, M/M, Negan is a crime lord, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Other, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Stockholm Syndrome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2018-12-29 22:35:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12094902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiliAtYourService/pseuds/FiliAtYourService
Summary: In an alternate universe without the apocalypse.What was supposed to be a well deserved break of relaxation for Rick and Shane takes a turn after a reported missing persons call. Now with a mysterious man who is too scared to talk and ties to the biggest crime lord in the state of Georgia, Rick must now find a way to help this traumatized man find his way back into society and keep him safe from this massive threat, whilst at the same time trying to keep his own family and friends from harm's way.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Rick and Shane are obviously still policemen.
> 
> Abraham, Glenn, and Jesus are part of the police force. 
> 
> Maggie and Glenn are married. 
> 
> Carol is a former abuse victim that Rick helped escape her and her daughter escape her abusive husband. 
> 
> Lori and Shane are having an affair and we watch Rick struggle with this for a good course of the story. 
> 
> Negan is a crime lord with a deadly reputation as well as a gang that has a name all throughout Georgia and surrounding states.

“So remind me again why the hell we're on our way into the middle of nowhere up North?” came Shane's frustrated grumble flicking a fly out the window of the passenger's side.

Rick let out a laugh at his partner's irritation before he replied. 

“I already told you man, the station is overstaffed with all the new trainees and Joel wanted us to have a break from all the chaos so I accepted this task, hell I'd of thought you'd be jumping for a road trip.”

Shane let his arm rest outside the open window as he checked his watch briefly. 

“I know but hell it ain't close... considering we've been in the fucking car for almost three hours with nothing but trees to look at the past hour.” 

The older man scoffed at the statement, “We're almost there I see the turn to their drive up ahead, I mean c'mon Shane once we go check this missing person's report we can go camping in the woods or something.”

“Hurraaay, boy scouts.” the younger man mumbled as Rick pulled into the long gravel driveway of the house on the location they were supposed to check out. 

After a moment the two burst into laughter over the comment and it took a couple minutes for Shane to compose himself enough to speak.

“So what exactly are we here for?”

Rick eyed the place as he continued to the end of the drive, “Well, the station somewhere down the mountain had gotten a missing persons report, a man in his mid to late thirties was reported missing about three months ago. Apparently he was mentioned to be meeting someone here and they didn't hear back from the-” 

He froze abruptly mid-sentence when he pulled up in front of the house wordlessly putting the car in park in what appeared to be haste before drawing his gun and throwing his door open to climb out.

Shane took a moment to register the action but one look at the wooden door of the house that was splintered and littered with large gaping holes had him asking no questions and climbing out with his shotgun at the ready.

Rick was creeping up to the door silently with his partner in toe and it wasn't long until they were standing in front of it staring into the darkened house.

The younger man nudged a large piece of wood from the abused door with his booted foot before running his fingers over the outside of one of the holes that decorated the light pine surface. 

“Looks like gun powder… shotgun blast?” he commented quietly. 

“Shh, I got blood on the floor…” Rick hushed before motioning to the man in one direction indicating that he wanted them to clear the house. 

The sheriff watched as his partner disappeared around the corner of the left hallway before taking a deep breath and readjusting his grip on Python and heading down the other direction.

The blood trail led him around a few corners before it abruptly became drag marks in what appeared to be a living room.

It didn't take him long to find it's source either and that was what appeared to be the body of a man possibly late forties, early fifties.

Short graying hair stained with red with blood from a single gunshot wound to the head, skin pale, and body lifeless. 

Dead. Had been for a while now judging by the look of it. 

Walking around for a bit Rick froze abruptly when he heard his partner's voice. “Rick!” 

The sound of his deputy's stern voice Rick automatically knew that Shane's end of the house wasn't clear, but whatever it was also wasn't bothering nor threatening the man directly. 

Gun still drawn but a little more relaxed at this point he stepped over the dead corpse before walking back down the hall til he found Shane standing in a trashed bedroom with his gun trained on the closed closet door. 

There was bloody hand prints and even more blood spatter tainting it's white surface a medium sized blood pool coming from behind it. 

“Got something in there, dunno what though. Could be armed, yeah?”

Rick nodded in agreement and raised python again while Shane grabbed the door knob and after a turn of the wrist he frowned and stepped back. “Locked.” 

“Locked?” Rick repeated with a furrowed brow as he watched Shane set his shotgun against the far wall before returning back to the closet door rolling his shoulders and stretching for a minute or so. 

“Uh-huh.” was the only response he got as Shane braced his shoulder against the door before pulling his weight backwards and without another word slammed against it. 

Rick counted the loud thrums against the door as Shane tried to use his muscular strength to break down it's wooden surface, counting four before the wood cracked under his weight and three more until it caved under his weight lurching forward and lodging itself crooked in the corner of the space. 

Shane stumbled forward slightly as it swung forward at an usual angle with bent hinges. 

“Woah there big guy.” Rick muttered pulling back on Shane's shoulders to steer his balance. 

The two stood there for a moment seeing nothing at first but a large blood pool and bloody hand prints accompanied by smears of various shapes and sizes .

“The hell…?” Shane muttered with a hint of annoyance. 

Rick squinted at the large pool of blood when he noticed a sort of color change within it, it took a moment for him to recognize the abnormal look as a reflection coming from the corner of the closet that was shielded by the door. 

Just as Shane was about to turn around Rick placed a quick hand on his shoulder and pointed towards the puddle, “Shane, look.” he whispered. 

Shane stared intently still not seeing what he was supposed to be looking at, “Yeah man, it's called blood, we see it a lot.” 

Rick rolled his eyes at his best friend's sarcasm, “The corner.” 

As soon as he whispered the words a shuffling sounds could be heard from behind the caved in door.” 

The two lawmen shared a glance with each other before turning back to the cramped space.

“Police, come on out slowly.” Rick addressed the stranger clearly. 

The only response he received was more shuffling but he could clearly see a bare foot slide across the floor before disappearing from view as the person tried to push themselves further into the corner. 

Shane sighed irritably, “I'll play you for it?” he offered.

“Nah man, I'm good, it's all yours.” Rick replied raising his gun just in case. 

With a scoff Shane got down on his hands and knees with a flashlight. As his shadow crept into the small space Shane heard what sounded like a muffled voice.

Rick's heart was beating hard against his chest and his sweaty hands adjusted their grasp on Python. 

Shane was tough, he wasn't worried about that, he just didn't know what they were going to find. He was so lost in thought that Shane's pained cry followed by his frustrated shouting made him shoot a hole into the wall beside the closet door. 

“Sonuvabitch!” Shane cried clutching his bleeding nose with both hands, still trying to register what happened Rick wasn't prepared enough to stop the person who had just tried to bolt past him but instead ran straight into his legs in a half-stumble half-crawl before correcting his course toward the door. 

With that he moved to chase the man but he didn't need to go far as he collapsed in a heap just in the doorway.

Rick took note of all the blood the man was leaving behind with each movement and a feeling of dread flooded his senses. 

Shane was still trying to tend to his broken nose so Rick decided to step in.

Approaching slowly he slipped python back into it's holster as he took in the man's appearance. 

He was naked as day and covered in blood, bruises, and lacerations. His hands were bound behind his back with zip ties that were coated with blood from his wrists where he'd been struggling. His movements were jerky and desperate.. almost disoriented. 

All at once the man's body stilled and he laid motionless in a crumbled heap on the floor. 

Rick swallowed nervously and closed the gap between him and the wounded man quickly he checked his pulse and let out a sigh when he found a steady beat thrumming against the pads of his fingers, he'd passed out.

“Bastard.” Shane muttered quite ornery. 

“Relax.” Rick stated firmly as he started to gently ease the man onto his back.

As soon as he did he felt nausea turn in his stomach and he had to swallow down the bile that rose in his throat.

Shane's hands lowered from where they'd been cradling his nose as he stared in horror. “Jesus Christ...”


	2. Chapter 2 Re-written

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 11/06/18 Re-written Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was re-written. When I first posted chapter two of this fic I was super po'd because I had A LOT more content to it that unfortunately had been lost when my writing document on my computer failed to recover it and I'd forgotten to actually save the file. {Yes my lovlies I use Linux so I can get away with not having to automatically save documents all the time}
> 
> ANYWAYS so between using Writer+ on my Xperia and my computer I was able to merge or rewrite some of the lost content. Some of it remains thn same but I'm fairly pleased with the turnout because it feels a lot less rushed like it was before.

_Daryl let out a curse as he pulled himself out from what that asshole Tommy called a pickup._

_Sitting up he wiped the oil and grease off his hands onto his jeans._

_Tommy Miller was one of his Uncle Jess's friends._

_He'd offered to take a look at the sorry beat up piece of shit to see if he could fix it for the man at a cheaper price than what he was quoted at the other mechanic in the town next door._

_He got up and looked under the hood checking the charge status of the worn battery that looked like as old as the damn car itself. Rusted all to hell and an engine that sounded like fucking thunder whenever it decided it wanted to start up._

_When he heard the door to the garage open he didn't even look up, but he did let out an irritated sigh._

_"Ain't takin' no more appointments today. Once I get this piece of junk finished we're closed. C'mon back tomorrow. " he informed the new customer._

_"Well hello to you too Daryl." the playful tone in that deep masculine drawl responded from the entrance._

_That voice was by no means unfamiliar to to him, and he jumped so hard that he smacked his head on the underside of the open hood on the pickup._

_"Arrgh! Sonuvabitch! Fucking stupid piece of shit!" he yelled giving the front tire a few swift kicks out of frustration as he clutched the top of his sore scalp tenderly._

_The booming laugh that followed made him focus his attention on the man with a sharp glare he hoped masked the unnerving feeling of dread rapidly forming in his gut._

_It was Negan._

_Just Negan. He didn't know what the man's last name was. Hell he doubted many people even those the man kept close with knew it either._

_Not that he'd expect criminals to sit there and chit chat personal information with each other._

_Yep. Criminal._

_Worse for that matter, he was the leader of one of the most notorious gangs in this area of the states called The Saviors who had a reputation that was vast, not just residing in Georgia, hell no, several counties in neighboring states including Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee had several police stations keeping an eye out for the man's affiliations. Crimes ranged from; robberies, both drug and illegal arms dealing, kidnappings, assaults, muders... the list just went on._

_Negan was not only a dangerous man, he was without a doubt the most ridiculously attractive man he'd ever seen._

_He was a tall man about 6'4 if he had to guess.. because he looked to be a few inches taller than their old man was._

_His built figure doned rippling nuscles that he could actually see the outline of through the tight leather of his unzipped jacket and the tight off white muscle tank he wore underneath it showed the faint outline of a six pack. Long legs clad in dark skinny jeans seemed to go on forever ended with military grade boots. The utility belt holding the pants up had a few various poches and a gun holster on the left side containing a high powered handgun._

_Deep amber eyes, jet black hair and a salt and pepper beard he thought he recalled the younger people classified it. Then there was that fucking debonair smile he was sure had gotten the man laid several times by women... and to be honest with the guy's demeanor... he didn't even want to throw out the possibility the man experiments.. he's far too open for that._

_He was straight as far as he knew but he couldn't even fucking deny the asshole was attractive._

_Like he pointed out earlier ... ridiculously so._

_You mix a dangerous man with an attractive man especially one who was well aware of how good looking and charismatic he was and you got a reason to be cautious._

_He had an idea why the man was here and it wasn't exactly a nice one._

_Merle was one of Negan's Saviors' drug dealers as well as suppliers. He would supply them with meth, heroine, and god knows what else in exchange for a cut of the earnings._

_He would also on occasion go out and rough up clients who failed to pay money they owed for their fixes on time._

_A few months ago Merle contacted him and told him to watch himself carefully informing him that Negan was pissed._

_Of course when he asked the moronwhy that concerned him since HE was the one associated with the man's criminal activities Merle promptly told him how he'd messed something up big time with the Saviors and that he'd gotten one of Negan's largest drug labs raided after tipping off cops in exchange for his cooperation he was dropped of any charges and didn't end up going to prison._

_Fuck Daryl didn't even know he'd gotten arrested! Why didn't he use one of them damn one phone calls they talk so much about! Who'd he call? Their old man?! Yeah right!_

_So then he informed him that Negan was going to be looking for him and told him not to tell him where he was. Not that he could anyway the idiot didn't even tell him where the fuck he was!_

_The last time he'd heard from Merle was actually two months ago._

_It was last week that he got a call from an unknown number and low and behold there was Negan on the other line, asking to speak to Merle. So of course he had the awkward yet nerve-wracking task of telling the man, 'He's not here. I haven't seen him'. An answer the man didn't care for at all and demanded that he get ahold of his brother and tell him to contact him immediately._

_He would have explained he hadn't heard from Merle for quite some time but of course the man left no room for arguments and had hung up the phone as soon as he made his orders clear._

_Of course he'd been desperately calling and texting Merle non-stop but the sonuvabitch wouldn't pick up his god damn phone! He'd even tried emailing him! Both from his personal email and work email! Nothing!_

_This was NOT his problem! Merle was the one who chose to be involved in this illegal shit! Not him! He was just supposed to be the messenger!_

_Deciding to just try to be cool and not jump to conclusions Daryl turned back to the battery checking it's charge again._

_"He ain't here man." he announced to the man who chuckled at the statement._

_"I know."_

_The response unnerved Daryl to be honest but he tried to play it off, pulling the jumper cables off the battery with a rag he pulled out of his back pocket._

_"What do you want then, huh? I kinda got a truck to fix."_

_"Aw, what? I missed you." he replied._

_Daryl wandered over to one of the work benches and started to wipe down some of his tools._

_He watched as the man started to wander about and look around his garage a bit._

_"Ain't nothin' personal man. I just wanna get this pile of junk done."_

_The man let out a low whistle turning his back and starting to walk about._

_"Ah, I get it. Yeah, that's what I like about running my own work environment." the man replied taking his time looking at various tools and a few promotional fliers that were way beyond outdated._

_The fliers caught his eye and he chuckled to himself._

_"Fuck, are these deals still active?"_

_Daryl swallowed his nerves enough to find his voice._

_"Sorry man, ended last month."_

_Negan let out a low whistle and shot him an amused grin over his shoulder._

_"Boy, I'd fucking say so. May 4th, 2010 to November 2nd, 2010."_

_"Yeah... been meaning to take those down."_

_He watched the man nervously through the corner of his eye, unease and a bit of fear was slowly starting to seep into his veins as the man whistled a weird tune aloud._

_"Yeah, that's one thing I absolutely do not fucking miss."_

_Daryl looked up from the pickup again._

_"What's that?"_

_Negan let out a dramatic groan as he glanced over at him momentarily, "Fucking schedules."_

_The same uneasy feeling from earlier started etching its way back into his stomach and he wasn't quite sure why._

_"Yeah?" he asked trying to keep his cool._

_"Yeah. It's fucking awesome running my own jobs. Has its perks, for starts I can decide whenever I fucking want whether or whether not I leave at five. Hell sometimes I just make it two!"_

_Negan made his way toward the huge bay window beside the store entrance before looking up at the neon open sign, it's blue and red lights flickering with the soft hum of ending power life._

_Then he turned his head looking at him over his shoulder. "When do you need it done by?"_

_"What?"_

_"The truck. When do you need it done by? Tonight?"_

_Daryl just blinked not quite sure why the man cared about such details._

_"Why?" he couldn't stop the suspicion from entering his voice if he wanted to._

_The man laughed heartily at that._

_"Well shit, I know my way around vehicles Dixon. Maybe I can lend a hand. Ya need it tonight?"_

_Daryl felt heat rise up his neck, "Uh, tomorrow afternoon.. I think I got it.. thanks though..."_

_The man must have noticed the blush because he grinned ear to ear._

_"Well aren't you fucking adorable."_

_More than a little flustered at the man's choice vocabulary mixed with his cocky swagger he stumbled over a response for a second before settling for a simple, 'Fuck you'._

_The older man responded with a single clicking noise from one of his cheeks before smiling charmingly with a ridiculously suggestive wink._

_He felt his face grow even hotter._

__'What do I do now...?'_ _

_Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and the awkward exchange was already pushed to the back of his mind._

_A dark colored sedan had pulled into his parking lot and when three men emerged from it heading straight toward his business his anxiety started to increase._

_Thoughts were running through his head a mile a minute and most of them were unpleasant._

_Still doing his best to keep calm Daryl grabbed a few of his tools that he'd been working with and threw them into a bucket._

_From the darkness of the evening sky at this point he couldn't determine who the newcomers were._

_There was the possibility that the man genuinely stopped by to visit... or more like see if Merle was avoiding him... which unfortunately Daryl knew he was..._

_Then again there was also the possibility that the man was hear to threaten him and brought some of his thugs with him..._

_Or there was the possibility that these men were here as customers... even though that car looked like it was a 2018 model which no one around these parts of Georgia drove unless they were fucking loaded... and the timing of all this was super sketchy..._

__'Maybe you're just being paranoid. He could genuinely just have been in town...'_ _

_He carried his bucket over to a different workbench near a sink that was full of what used to be hot water that had long since cooled off to a colder state._

_"But hey I got some good news for you Daryl." Negan announced from where he stood by the storefront window._

_When he heard the door open this time he looked up and immediately that anxiety he had earlier was causing a inkling of potential fight or flight._

_He took a deep breath as he wiped one of his wrenches of all the oil and grease._

_"Yeah?" he asked scanning the newcomers as he idly wiped down his tools._

_He recognised two of them as people who Merle used to run around with._

_Simon was a middle-aged man with a pedophile mustache and dark brown almost black hair that was balding on top of his head. He was normally seen, by him anyways, in a tan bowler shirt and a pair jeans, but today he apparently went with a pair of black dress pants and nice grey button up shirt._

__'Good lord, it looks like the guy is ready to go on a date.'_ _

_Eying the man again, he couldn't help the slight raise of his left eyebrow._

__'How in the hell does an ugly mother fucker like that get a woman to even look at him?'_ _

_Unless..._

__'Maybe he's into men.'_ _

_A small smirk lifted the left corner of his mouth and he quickly looked back down at his work bench to hide it, grabbing the first tool he laid eyes on and wiped it down with his rag._

_The other one was Bud he was a fairly tall man in the early years of his fifties with steely blue eyes and dark brown hair that was starting to go gray._

_He'd actually had a few drinks with the guy at Merle's place a couple of times. His first impression of the man was that he was actually a pretty cool guy, to which Merle replied with a snort to watch out for him and his 'Dick Brigade'._

_Apparently the nickname wasn't given to the man and his crew by Merle much to his surprise._

_No from what Merle said it sounded like Negan gave it to him because he really didn't like him much and the only reason he keeps the man around is because he has no problem with getting his hands dirty whether it be with threats, kidnappings, or out right murder he's done it all._

_The third individual though... he didn't know this one. Steely blue eyes and blonde hair about the same length as his own shaggy cut... or lack of cut since he hadn't had a haircut in almost a year given how his dark loches now hung all the way to the top of his jawline._

_He was younger than the other three and probably a little younger than himself by a year or so... it was hard to tell though._

_Not for the reasons onewould think either._

_It was because of the kid's face._

_The left side of his face was covered in gnarled, rigid scars going from his hairline to just underneath his eye._

_They looked like burn scars... God knows from what._

_Confirmation that Negan had some of his crew joining him on his visit immediately sent alarm bells screeching inside his head._

_Negan showing up was bad enough with how uncommon it was that the man bothered to confront people that he could easily just send his little posse to threaten or kill themselves, but the fact that he had some of his jackasses here with him... that was the point where he knew he needed to get the fuck out of here._

_He watched as Negan reached up to the pull string attached to his open sign before turning his body around to face him, shooting him a cheerful grin._

_"Yeah, we're fucking closed." he chimed happily turning off the sign with a simple flick of his wrist._

_Dary frowned pausing the wipe down of the current tool in his hand which just so happened to be his uncle's vintage tire iron that he'd been given as a gift for the opening of his business._

_"Man cut the shit! What do you want Negan? I ain't got all day." he couldn't help but snarl irritably._

_An awkward silence filled the air until Negan broke it with a sigh._

_"Well fuck, you are just impatient to get rid of me aren't you?" he asked putting a dramatic emphasis on the word impatient._

_When Daryl didn't respond he let out a disappointed sigh._

_"Fine if you really want to get to fucking business. We're going on a motherfucking field trip sport!"_

_Daryl's eyebrow twitched irritably at the sudden playful almost giddy tone the man used on the last sentence. Like this was some sort of fucking slumber party a teenage girl would be so damn excited for and it was going to be a blast._

_He slammed the iron down onto the workbench glaring at the other man._

_"I ain't going anywhere with you asshole. Merle may run with your group of morons but I thought I made it fucking clear that I don't want anything to do with this fucking shit. All I do is take the messages."_

_Negan chuckled as he bounced on the balls of his feet._

_"You know at one point I probably would have just fucking accepted that, that was until your brother fucked me sideways and decided to try to avoid the god damn consequences by disappearing from the face of the fucking Earth."_

_"Dude that ain't my problem!" he spat venomously._

_The asshole actually laughed at him in response!_

_"You see Daryl that's the shitty thing about family, especially siblings. When your brother got affiliated with me lucky you received a free VIP pass into the fucking club! So when I tell you to do something you damn well fucking do it, but hey I'm a nice guy I don't like to force people who are trying to get their lives straightened out into a shit hole of a mess. Life's not for everyone. Though I absolutely expect that when I ask someone to do one simple fucking thing that it gets done and the only thing I asked, the only fucking job you had was to get that lazy fuck of a brother of yours to cohact me-"_

_He didn't let the fucker finish his rant though instead cutting him off angrily._

_"I tried ya ignorant piece'a shit! I ain't heard from Merle in almost two fuckin' months! Idiot won't pick up his phone, won't respond to my texts, hell I tried emailing him and I got nothin'!"_

_A deep laugh rumbled from the man's that oat and he burst into a fit of laughter that actually took him a moment to compose himself._

_Daryl wasn't amused at all, he just wanted the asshole to leave. "Get out Negan. This ain't my problem to fix."_

_"God damn! You are a ballsy little shit aren't you! That's what I like about you Daryl. Unfortunately, as being thn gentleman that I am, I hate to rain on your god damn day son, but it certainly is your mother fucking problem. I ain't running no dance studio. I run far more important things and your brother made my business your problem the moment he agreed to fucking sell my shit. I know you have been having trouble contacting that fucking moron, so I figured out a way to do it. You, you are the lucky mother fucker who gets to help me do it."_

_Daryl snarled clenching his hand tightly around a tire iron._

_"Are ya fucking deaf!? I ain't helping ya with shit."_

_"Oh I fucking heard you already, but that's not one of the options because you have two and only two fucking options!" Negan replied rolling his eyes._

_When he didn't respond with anything else besides a glare the other man continued._

_"Ready? Here the are pay attention. One you can put that fucking tire iron down and come with us quietly. OR you can be a stubborn little brat and I can have Dwight, Simon, and Bud here drag your motherfucking ass outta here kicking and screaming like a little bitch."_

_Daryl glared hatefully at him as he silently sized the men up with his eyes trying to think of how he wanted to do this because there was no way in hell he was leaving with these men._

_Negan clicked his tongue impatiently at him._

_"I know that's a mighty scary decision but I give you my absolute fucking word that I just need to borrow you for a little bit. It's your call Dixon."_

_Even though every fiber of his being was telling him to high tail it the fuck out of there he knew he couldn't outrun them. The only thing left that he could do was try to defend himself and he tightened his grip on the tire iron with a scowl._

_That was when Negan's men moved and Daryl lifted the tire iron with both hands._

_Deciding to take out the guy he could only assume was Dwight from what Negan had called him._

_He wanted to take him out first because he looked to be the youngest, and was clearly the smallest thus he concluded that he was probably the quickest._

_This assumption was proven correct as the blonde was the first to reach him, ducking under the iron and delivering a swift blow to his abdomen that almost made him drop the metal tool and double over._

_Almost._

_Gritting his teeth and noticing the man's follow up left hook coming straight at his face Daryl used his own spread against the man he shifted to the side and swinging the heavy iron as hard as he could in an upward angle as hard as he could sending it crashing straight into the crevice of the younger man's elbow with a sickening snap that was accompanied by an ear piercing scream of agony as Dwight stumbled back._

_"Damn! What a hit!" Negan quipped with a whistle._

_He whipped around already expecting the two older mean to be on him and swung with full force but to his surprise the iron was caught between two leather clad hands belonging to Simon._

_Both of them fought over the tool for a few seconds before Daryl suddenly found his forehead connecting with the unforgiving stone floor of the garage before he even felt his body falling to the ground._

_The force of his chest colliding with the cold stone and the heavy weight that landed on top of him crushing him into the floor after the tackle knocked the wind out of him and he was desperately trying to suck in deep gulps of air back into his burning lungs._

_Negan clicked his tongue at him, "Damn, you know what!? I think I like you a hell of a lot more than that asshole!"_

_Daryl didn't respond, hell he couldn't even if he wanted to. He was still trying to get air back into his lungs._

_"Simon give me that tire iron."_

_Upon hearing the man's command Daryl started squirming vigorously in wild panic._

_"Say now, take it easy kiddo." Negan said as he caught the tire iron after Simon tossed it to him._

_Daryl let out a growl as he continued to struggle against the larger man on top of him._

_Negan twirled the iron idly as he walked to the office desk in the far corner of the room that was cluttered with paperwork._

_Paperwork?_

_Daryl's eyes widened in realization as he glanced at the far wall eying the doorway that led to the employee locker room and shower... and his personal office where he knew he had a pistol in the bottom drawer of his desk and wireless landline phone._

_If he could make it back there he might be able to get out of Merle's fucking mess in oen people._

_Negan started pulling open various drawers to rummage around for a few seconds before letting out a small 'ah-ha' upon opening a certain drawer and retrieving something from it._

_"Now I don't wanna have to get rough with you Dixon, but your dumbshit brother is not able to skip out on his fucking responsibilities and unfortunately for you, you sorry little shit I need your help to remind him of that."_

_"Urgh! Man that ain't my fault! I can't control what that idiot does!" he tried desperately, still trying to get free._

_He felt hot breath fluttering against the back of his neck and his left ear and then Bud's deep voice whispered lowly into his ear._

_"Daryl, I like ya kid... Don't do anything stupid."_

_Negan knelt down in front of him and grabbed his chin in one of his leather gloved hands._

_"I get it. Believe me I do. It's not your fault that your brother is a dumber than a hooker on crack. I know you boys had a mighty hard fucking time growing up in goddamn backwoods country with all that shit you guys went through with your old man-"_

_Daryl had enough he wasn't going to sit here and be talked to like this._

_"Mo'fucker shut the hell up before I arrgh!"_

_Negan stood up and quickly lowered the tire iron upon his face which connected across the left side._

_To his horror all vision in his left eye went white and a blinding hot pain erupted through his skull._

_He'd never felt anythingg so painful in his life and he was known for a high pain tolerance._

_Blood immediately was pooling down his face and the searing pain was unbearable it was so bad that he could feel the tears slipping past his tear ducts from his right eye._

_"Arrgh! Ah!... God! Y-You sick sonuvabitch!!"_

_"Here, get his hands."_

_"Ge'off me! I swear to God I'mma kill you, y' piece of shit!" he half yelled half sobbed._

_"You got him?" Negan's deep voice inquired as he watched Bud struggle with him for a moment._

_"Yeah, I got him boss."_

_"Good. Simon go out to the car and get it ready... and Dwight! So help me God if you do NOT stop your bitching about that fucking arm I'm gonna loose it! Don't be such a fucking pussy!" he rumbled._

_"Got it, c'mon kid come with me they got it from here."_

_Daryl watched them exit the store and a wave of hope flooded over him._

_Bud's weight shifted slightly and Daryl found the man's knee planting itself firmly into the small of his back and his arms being forced behind his back._

_He noticed one of his lug-wrenches lying discarded about an arm's reach away, it had likely been knocked to the ground like several other tools had been in the struggle._

_Desperate for some sort of leverage for an escape the smaller man yanked and pulled furiously against the man who he could tell was starting to have some difficulty with his rapid movements and to Daryl's relief he managed to get his left arm free._

_Adrenaline pumping and his pain senses on overload he quickly grabbed the wrench and jerked all his weight against the man twisting his upper body so he could swing the tool hitting the man in the temple._

_Bud let out a pained cry as he lost his balance and tumbled off of him._

_Wasting no time Daryl hastily stumbled towards the back of the store into the locker rooms._

_"Hey!" he heard Negan's voice bellow over the chaos._

_He ignored him he didn't stop he didn't care what the fuck the man was going to do to him now, he was NOT leaving this building in that fucker's hands!_

_Making it to the office he slammed the door shut and snatched the cordless phone off it charging base. He then dropped to his knees behind the desk and started rummaging through the bottom drawer while he dialed 911 in the other hand._

_Frantically searching for his firearm with no success besides files and old magazines he held the phone on his shoulder so he could use both hands now just throwing shit out of the drawer onto the floor around him._

_That's when he found a hastily scribbled note in black sharpie addressed to him._

_**Darleen** _

_**I borrowed your gun.** _

_**Merle** _

__'That sonuvabitch!'_ _

_That's when he heard the door behind him slam open and heavy booted feet on the floor._

_**'911 what's your emergency.'** a woman's voice spoke on the other line. _

_Trying to be quick to respond he almost barely got the word 'send' before Negan's leather clad hand clamped across his mouth to cut him off and a long muscular arm barred across his collar bone to pin him against a large chest._

_"Oh ho! Nope. I'll take that." he heard the man hiss lowly._

_The hand across his face was suddenly crushing his head against the body he was being held to and the other arm snatched the phone from his hands._

_Negan raised the phone to his ear and Daryl could hear the charm pouring into his voice._

_"Well, hello there Darlin'."_

_**'Yes, this is the 911 dispatch how can I direct your call?'** _

_"I am sorry ma'am I actually was having an issue with my alarm for my shop and I resolved the issue myself I just wanted to to let you know that everything is fine."_

_"Mmpffhh! Mmm!"_

_**'What was that? Is everything okay Sir?'** _

_Negan glared down at him when he raised both his hands up to the man's arm trying to pry his hand away from his face. He could feel blood underneath his fingernails as he clawed at the man's wrist furiously._

_"Yes, everything is fine."_

_She started to speak again but having lost his patience Negan ended the call and threw Daryl into the office chair with a force that Daryl knew meant he was a dead man._

_"That was not smart kid." he growled closing the door behind him._

_"They ain't gonna buy that shit. Cops are gonna be comin' I'd get on the fuck outta here Negan." he spat clutching at his bleeding eye._

_Negan smiled at him and pulled his gun out of its holster._

_"You don't get somewhere like I am without having buried a few fucking bodies shit even a few lawmen. Stand up. Turn the fuck around. Hands behind your back."_

_When Daryl didn't respond to his command that was when Negan got angry._

_"I am not going to motherfucking tell you again."_

_"Mo'fucker go ahead and shoot me then, huh? That's right y'all ain't gonna do shit cause without me y'aint got nothin' for Merle!"_

_Negan saw red as he took a deep breathe he grabbed the radio on his belt and pressed a button._

_"Simon."_

_**'Yeah?'** _

_"You get that fucking shit to Bud?"_

_**'I did.'** _

_"Good man, tell him to get his damn ass in here."_

_**'Got it. Need any help?'** _

_"Nah. Move the car around back. Watch for cops. Radio me if we have company I'm gonna fucking take care of this myself."_

_**'I'm on it.'** _

_With that the older man turned off the radio and turned his attention back to him._

_"I was going to be nice but you keep making that option harder and fucking harder to be a possibility."_

_Daryl glared at him hatefully and his ears perked when he heard booted footsteps approaching the office door._

_"Ah ah, sit your mother fucking ass back down." Negan ordered pointing his gun at him._

_Gritting his teeth he forced himself to let his back rest against the chair as the door opened and Bud stepped into the small room._

_Bud was wobbly on his legs after the blow he'd given him with the wrench but he did manage to grab onto a shelf for balance as he passed something over to Negan who took it from him without even looking at the man._

_Negan started to approach the chair he sat in and he nearly bolted but the other man all at once shot him in the leg as a distraction and a reminder how much shit he was already in._

_He howled in pain and got ready to swing at the larger man when a sharp pain in his neck made him cry out in surprise._

_When he tried to pull his head away from the stabbing pain being inflicted upon his neck a large hand wound tight into his dark locks holding his head in place._

_Negan was doing something he couldn't quite tell what it was until the man's grip relinquished its hold on his hair and he shoved him back._

_That was when he saw the now empty syringe in the criminal's hand an his eyes widened in horror._

_Did that sick fuck just drug him!?!_

_"Yeah, I recon you'll be out in about five minutes at the latest."_

_Panicked he tried to get up but as soon as he did a wave of dizziness hit him like a fucking wall and he slumped back into the chair._

_No. No. No! He needed to get out of here!_

_Daryl attempted to get up again only to fall straight into Negan's arms when he tripped over his own feet._

_"Easy there boy, we still got a little ways to go yet." Negan said shoving him roughly toward the desk causing him to loose his balence._

_He pinned him on top of it face down seizing both of his wrists to pull them behind his back._

_Bud was wrapping something around them he at first thought it was rope but the stickiness and lacking slack told him it was duct tape._

_Things were starting to blur but he was aware that he was being dragged through the locker room to the back exit and it wasn't long before they were outside._

_He immediately spotted the sedan where Simon was tending to Dwight's broken arm as best he could._

_"No! Get the... fuck... ge'offa me!" Daryl yelled thrashing sluggishly against the man dragging him toward their car._

_Negan clicked his tongue once as he watched the smaller man's futile fight for freedom._

_He knew he wasn't going anywhere with those fists of fury of his taped behind him, even if he did manage to get them lose and try to give them the slip again the sedative he'd dosed him with wouldn't let him get very far._

_"Simon, pop the trunk!" he called to the front seat._

_There was an audible click as the compartment opened._

_"I swear... I don't... don't know where he is!" the redneck tried desperately trying to plant his heels into the dirt in last a last attempt to stall time._

_Out of the corner of his eye the faint flashing of red and blue lights caught Negan's attention._

_They needed to move and the kid needed to shut up._

_"Bud move your ass and get the little shit in the god damned car." he hissed._

_He was a mess he could feel himself getting more drowsy by the second._

_It was then that Daryl saw the flashing lights and he just stared mesmerized for a moment as he tried to piece together what they meant._

_Then through the thick fog of his growing disorientation he remembered the lady from the phone call earlier._

_Did she send a patrol car?_

_"H-Hey... help me... ov' 'ere.." he could hardly form coherent words at this point._

_Negan's eyebrow twitched irritably as he reached into his back pocket to retrieve the duct tape he used earlier._

_Bud slammed the smaller man facedown into the trunk ot their vehicle with such force that Negan could actually hear the moment the air was knocked out of hlm._

_Not wasting any time he pulled off a long strip of the silver tape using his teeth to tear it._

_He grabbed a fistful of dark brown locks and pulled back cruelly forcing the smaller man's neck to arch painfully drawing forth a small yelp._

_"You're fucking persistent. I'll give you that, but that shit ain't fucking cute anymore." he hissed lowly._

_With that he pressed the silver material firmly acrossed Daryl's lips much to his protests._

_Negan reached down to his belt and unfastened it with a simple flip of the latch. He tossed it to Simon who caught it holster and all with ease hiding it somewhere in the vehicle._

_He turned back to Daryl pulling a switchblade from his back pocket. He flipped open the blade and placed it against the soft flesh of his throat threateningly before speaking in a low tone void of any arguments._

_"Mmmph.." he tried to plead pitifully._

_"I fucking swear.. you make one fucking more sound in the next five minutes while I try to diffuse this fucking unnecessary situation.. I will sew that goddamn fucking mouth of yours shut."_

_Daryl glared up at the man briefly before letting desperate eyes scan over the mans shoulder to see if he could locate the officer._

_Negan glared back at him and slammed the trunk shut leaving him in total darkness._

_"Good evening officers. What can we help you with?" he heard the man's charismatic voice greet the only hope he had of getting out of this situation._

_He was in a mental war with himself. He knew Negan said he'd killed cops before ... but wait... didn't he say officer's?_

_That meant there was more than one... right...?_

_"Sedalia County Police. Is there a problem here gentlemen?" a mature voice questioned._

_"What? Naw, not at all officer... Crozier?"_

_The officer snorted at the proper pronunciation of his last name._

_"That's right, I think you're the first civilian to ever get that." he said lowering his notepad._

_Negan cocked his head coyly as he leaned back against the trunk of their sedan, "Well I must say I'm flattered."_

_The two men chuckled but they didn't seem completely convinced it seemed._

_Negan's keen ears picked up the faintest of cries from his captive but decided to keep his cool instead he drummed a small tune with his fingers to drown out the noise._

_As well as give the trapped man his only warning to be quiet._

_They didn't spot the behavior as odd so he relaxed flashing them a smile._

_"Why are you out back here at this hour sir?"_

_"Oh please, Officer Fredricks, Sir was my old man's title. Name's Daniel, Daniel Bana."_

_"Okay Mr. Bana, what are you doing here at this hour?" Officer Fredricks asked again._

_"Just closing up shop a little early got a party to be at. My neice just got married!"_

_Officer Crozier eyed him warily, looking him up and down. "You're friend of the Dixons then? I didn't think the owner had anyone else working here." he asked._

_"Yes sir. Born and fucking raised." he said with a hearty laugh._

__'No! No! Shit they believe him!'_ Daryl's mind panicked._

_He needed to do something!_

_Not caring at this point about any repercussional beating he may get from the maniac he decided to take a gamble and try to get the officer's attention._

_"So are these friends of yours?" the younger officer asked._

_"This lot of assholes?" Negan's amused voice asked followed by a pause, "Just kidding, yeah they are."_

_"You are such a tool, you know that?" Bud's irritated voice addressed the man._

_"Yeah, I know-"_

_"Mmphh! Mmngh!"_

_Everything went silent and tension filled the air._

_"What was that?" Officer Crozier's suspicion filled tone finally broke the silence._

_Negan met Bud's gaze for a split second before turning back to the man._

_"What was what?" he was trying to play dumb._

_Both of the officers became more aware on instinct._

_"Sir can you please open the trunk." Officer Fredricks asked calmly after sharing a knowing look with his partner._

_"Sure, hey Cal get the trunk." Negan called to Simon._

_"Sure." came the man's response followed by the audible click that seemed to echo in Daryl ears._

_Light suddenly flooded the compartment and he had to squint for a moment when a flashlight was suddenly shining on his face._

_He barely had time to make out young officer Fredricks' look of surprise before a shot rang out behind the man._

_The younger man was almost out of his line of sight as he turned to find out where his partner was when Negan sprang up from behind and was dragging his switchblade across the front of the man's throat._

_Then it all went black again and he heard Negan arguing with Simon as the vehicle started and was moving not moments later._

_He could feel the drug overpowering his senses he was so tired.. it couldn't hurt if he just let his eyes rest for a couple seconds.. it wasn't long after that thought when he lost consciousness._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew that's a lot of typing on my phone. Hope everyone is staying warm because it's getting fuucking cold!


End file.
